That fact will be apparent Saturday in the second contest of their three-game series with the Chicago White Sox.
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The White Sox have lost six in a row and were eliminated from the AL wild-card race.
Sox center fielder Adam Eaton left after appearing to hit his head and left shoulder running into the wall catching Roberto Perez’s long drive in the sixth.
Eaton was down for several minutes before being helped to the dugout.
The Cleveland Indians are close to clinching the Central Division title, but are also trying to piece together their injury-riddled starting rotation to get them through the remainder of the regular season.
Melky Cabrera blasted a two-run homer in a losing effort against the Indians on Friday.
Tip o” the cap to Trevor, who goes 7.2, strikes out six and saves the “pen for tomorrow’s pseudo-bullpen day. Chicago is also 0-5 in their last five overall, and 0-4 in Gonzalez’s last four Friday starts. “That’s when it came apart”. The right-hander allowed four runs in 7 2/3 innings. While Ramirez’s homer tied it in the fourth, the White Sox pulled back ahead in the fifth on a two-run home run by Avisail Garcia.
Jose Ramirez – who blasted a game-tying, two-run homer in the fourth inning off Miguel Gonzalez – doubled in two more in the sixth to make it a 9-4 game.
Two batters later, Crisp hit an RBI single to center field that brought around Ramirez.
“You just tip your hat to (the Indians)”, Gonzalez said. Lindor hit a sac fly to right, pushing home a third run and allowing Jason Kipnis to scamper to third.
Juan Minaya replaced Gonzalez, and Frazier booted Ramirez’s ground ball, moving Napoli to second.
RED SOX 2, RAYS 1: In St. Petersburg, Florida, David Ortiz hit a two-run homer in the first inning to set the RBI record for a player in his final season to lead AL East-leading Boston to its ninth straight win. The 32-year-old Mexico native posted one of the two wins in that stretch against Cleveland and is 4-0 with a 3.26 ERA in five career games versus the Indians.
White Sox: 2B Tyler Saladino (back discomfort) was scratched from the lineup and replaced by Carlos Sanchez. White Sox 1B Jose Abreu needs five homers and four RBIs to join Albert Pujols as the only players in history with 30 or more homers and 100 or more RBIs in their first three seasons.
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NOTES: RHP Cody Anderson will start Saturday, his first start for the Indians since June 7.
